ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Q star

Okay kiddo, let’s talk about q stars! So, imagine that everything is made up of tiny things called “atoms,” and those atoms make up bigger things called “molecules,” and those molecules make up even bigger things like stars. Now, some stars are really big and heavy, and they use up all of their fuel and explode in a huge explosion called a “supernova.”

But sometimes, instead of exploding, these big stars collapse into a really small point called a “black hole.” And sometimes, when those stars collapse, they get so hot and so dense that they start to produce energy even though they don’t have any more fuel. That’s what we call a q star.

Now, these q stars are a little bit different from black holes. They still have gravity that can pull things in, but they don’t have something called an “event horizon” like a black hole. That means that if you got too close to a black hole, you would get sucked in and you’d never be able to get out. But with a q star, you might be able to escape if you were traveling really fast.

Scientists are still trying to figure out a lot of things about q stars, but they’re very interesting and could help us learn more about the universe!